Fallout Equestria: Shades of Mahogany
by xXxRandom KatxXx
Summary: I didn't ask for any of this. I was a teacher. I taught Princess Luna's prized pupils. And now, thanks to those cursed megaspells, I am little more then a zombie, cursed to wander the Equestrian Wasteland looking for those whom I can pass my wisdom on to. For those who don't learn from their history are doomed to repeat it. Rated M for Gore, Language & Mild Sexual Content.
1. Mahogany

**Author's Note: I do not own Fallout: Equestria nor Project Horizions. A basic understanding of theses stories is not required to enjoy this tale, but I highly recommend it to get a better background of the lore and characters. Fallout: Equestria belongs to Kkat, Project Horizions and Goldenblood belongs to Somber. I also own neither My Little Pony nor Fallout. This story can also be found at my Wattpad under the same name by TheRandomestKatEver (Me)**

 **Mahogany Dusk, Spearmint and Night Sky are all my characters. You may use them if you want but please credit me and link me so I can read your fabulous story!**

"I never asked for this."

A white unicorn of elegant yet petite stature wrapped a small piece of chalk in dark red magic, nearly the same color as her mane, which she had been named for. She gave a winning smile at the camera, frozen forever in the image.

The faded magazine article boasted the talents of the mare. Mahogany Dusk; Head Professor of Magic at Princess Luna's Academy for Gifted Unicorns.

A mouthful, for sure, but one of which she had been proud.

40 fillies and colts to a class, 5 classes a day. Two hundred foals. Lives she impacted every day.

And she wouldn't have changed it for the world. She would have done it until the day she died.

Fate, however, had other plans.

For in the devastating flash of the Pink Cloud that hit Littlehorn that day, one Mahogany Dusk met a horrible fate. Radiation ate away at her flesh , causing her once brilliant ivory colored coat to come off in patches, her mane, her namesake no less, falling out in hoof-fulls.

The magazine was taped to a mirror, which reflected the rather terrifying image of a undead creature; a unicorn mare with twisted white hide, some of which was missing in patches, sometimes with gaping holes showing what was left of her irradiated innards, most notably a patch of skin over her mouth gone, revealing skull from the top of her muzzle to nearly her chin.

Caught in a hellish limbo between life and death in the Equestrian Wasteland.

Not exactly my cup of tea.

Yes, this grotesque mare is, unfortunately, me. I stepped away from the mirror after a moment of depressing self-pity and omnipotent narrating, turning to instead trot down the rotten and crumbling walkway that led from the little fillies' room to the library. The room had once been my favorite, aside from my classroom.

Often times after classes had ended for the day my students and I would congregate here for wild stories of magical lands and stories of pre-war Equestria. Of course, my peers did not approve of my tall tales, especially Goldenblood; a handsome stallion with wisdom beyond his years. An incredible teacher and friend with a stubborn insistence of reality in teaching. The foals should be taught without fantasy that wouldn't better their minds.

My stories provided an escape from test scores and the uncertainty of their futures. A ray of optimism in a pessimistic world. Perhaps that same optimism caused our downfall. It was my students whom lead a starving group of zebra refugees to our gates, hoping to find shelter; instead they found death.

I shook my head to clear it of wandering thoughts. It no longer mattered. No amount of stories nor regret could bring back the dead.

All I can do is teach the next generation to be better then those in the past. The only problem is my lack of students. Pink Cloud exposure kills most anything aside from Ghouls. This is both helpful and hindering; on one hoof I am protected from the sole dangers of the Equestrian Wasteland aside from other Ghouls. I am free of others who would attempt to scavenge the school.

On the other hoof, I have no one to share my knowledge with unless I venture into the Wastes. When the Pink Cloud hit the Academy, most of the foals and teachers died instantly. Few were transformed into Ghouls, but their minds were warped.

Some became Repeaters - eternally doomed to repeat the actions before their deaths. Some as simple as erasing chalkboards that no longer exist. Some as complex as teaching the same lecture over and over or repeating their last school day. There is no intelligence; only a robotic repetition of actions. Attempts to converse are met with either blank stares, complete ignorance or in rare cases, violent outbursts.

Teaching becomes difficult when there is nopony to listen.

So I spend my days here- wandering the school, searching for any salvageable books or artefacts. Any scrap of knowledge that might better Equestria. Lately, I have been having issues finding new things. I have read every book in this library, learning everything from zebra languages, fighting styles and enchantments to the history of Equestria from the rise of the Princesses to the Last Day.

I have searched every crevice, unlocked every safe and collected every document worth having. But now, I have found every secret within these walls.

I've considered venturing out into the Equestrian Wasteland but my fear holds me back. Perhaps it's a bit foolish, but I fear facing the remains of the land I once called home. It's easy to ignore the apocalypse when you confine yourself to a mostly-intact library. But beyond these walls lies more knowledge. Even potential students.

I walked to the crumbling balcony, gently pushing the doors open. I had dedicated my first 10 years of consciousness to cleaning and fixing the library with restorative magic. I had initially hoped to find some way to reverse the Pink Cloud effects and repair the school. However, the spells and incantations weren't made for such a concentrated blast nor a single unicorn.

Resting my hooves on the railing I had once so lovingly restored, I stared first at the dark, cloudy sky before bringing my eyes down to the dusty, dead earth. It had always been nothing but a valley, with nothing but grass as far as one could see. I missed the simple green life of the grass.

How many ponies could be fed with such a simple crop? Could the radiation be cleansed from the ground?

So many questions that could be answered with more research. Taught to the next generation. Restore Equestria to a fraction of its former self? Surely there were ponies whom could help me with my research? Didn't I owe it to the surviving members of the equestrian race to teach them to better themselves.

It was settled, then. I would gather my things and set out on a journey to find information.

For Equestria.


	2. Blood

Feeling more excitement in these old bones then I had in centuries, I galloped down a hallway, gathering objects I would need on my expedition and loading my white leather saddlebags , eventually finding myself in the dining hall.

In it's prime, the dining hall had once been a grand room with high ceilings made of stained glass the color of sapphire, made to look like the night sky with shining stars, constellations and, of course, the moon. There were hundreds of seats surrounding large circular tables. The school only had 200 students but had been made for over a thousand. In the center of the western wall was a grand throne for the Princess to sit and dine, on the rare occasion she was actually able to visit her own school. Directly to the left of the throne sat the headmaster's chair. On either side of the throne were two long tables for special guests and staff.

I slowed to a walk as I passed the staff table, walking to my place at the head of the right staff table. I looked around the once-stunning room and sighed. The stained-glass roof was shattered beyond repair, littering the floor in dully glittering heaps. The floors had holes in random places, worn with repeated use by the schoolpony ghouls. Once-stunning tapestries were either tattered, eaten away by age or lying on the floor.

I stood, walking across the dining hall towards the kitchen.

As a ghoul, I needed neither food nor water. What little food that wasn't immediately destroyed in the explosion was melted to whatever surface it had been resting on. Much like the unicorn colt walking to my left, whom had his plate of sauteed apples permanently fused to his mouth. His coat had once been a vibrant green and his mane a shining onyx. Emerald Shine had been his name, he was in my Advanced Telekinesis class. Now the little Ghoul was a shell, his milky eyes blank and hollow, repeatedly walking into me as I blocked his path.

I side-stepped to let him pass before he attempted to maim of kill me. Annoyed Repeaters can be deadly.

Remembering my original task, I trotted through the double doors, one of which had fallen completely off it's hinges. The school naturally had a strict no-weapons policy, therefore my only protection from the Wasteland would be a sharp kitchen utensil, hopefully a knife if I could find one.

Using my telekinesis to open multiple drawers at once, I levitated the drawer's contents around me, picking out a few knives and metal meat skewers. Hopefully I wouldn't have to use them..

-'

What ever possessed me to venture into this cursed Wasteland!?

Only an hour into my expedition and I had already been shot at 18 times. Apparently well-meaning Ghouls oozing Pink Cloud gas trotting up to your settlement were NOT well received.

I was several miles from the school, I had been walking and teleporting for the better part of the day and wound up at a small cluster of ponies in a half-built shack.

I dodged another shot, grazing my irradiated hide and sending up the scent of decay. Another 'perk' of being a Ghoul. Smells like rotten flesh constantly; looks only marginally better. Didn't mean it didn't hurt like a buck in my side.

I scrambled behind a Canterlot Sky Chariot that had crashed long ago to conjure some healing magic. Red magic entered several of the wounds, starting to painfully stitch the flesh together, but it was a temporary fix. My extensive knowledge of healing spells did me no good in a body that was in a permanent state of decay.

A healing spell to mend a wound created new flesh; as soon as the new flesh was created, the necrosis overtook it and it became dead and broke apart all over again.

Finding some radiation at this point was vital. I was not only wounded, but pinned in my current position. Being out in the open had huge death opportunities. Staying put risked being captured and likely shot. Lose-lose situation. I could teleport, but after the massive amount of magical energy I put into holding my hide together, I risked burnout. Perhaps I should explain.

Burnout is when a unicorn reaches a point of Complete Magical Exhaustion (CME). When CME is hit, the unicorn's magical ability is weakened to the point they cannot use magic. You can see how this could be a problem for someone whom was using knives as a weapon which requires levitation (Rotting hooves can't hold shit).

Sitting behind the Sky Chariot, I considered my options. I could run as fast as my hooves would take me, which with uneven hooves was incredibly difficult. Running isn't fun when you're over two hundred years old.

Choosing uncomfortable, slow running over complete helplessness seemed like a good option, so I turned tail and ran, suffering only a few bullets in my withered hindquarters.

That is, until a bullet cut straight through my right hip, snapping the fragile bone. Letting out a shriek of agony, I collapsed in a heap.

The pounding of hooves echoed in my head, I looked dead into the barrel of a very large gun. A stunning earth pony loomed over me, her coat a lovely shade of steel grey with luminous lavender eyes that were almost white. She had a mane of deepest sapphire, streaked with ebony tied in a tight bun at the base of her skull, a few stray locks framing her face. Another bun rested on her hindquarters. A lock and key served as her cutie mark. Even staring down the barrel of her gun, I was stunned by her beauty.

"What are you doing around here, Ghoulie?" She hissed, putting a hoof on my chest. Big mistake, a few pink vapors creeped out of the gaping hole in my chest and brushed her foreleg, melting a small amount of the flesh on her foreleg off. She screamed and backed away, giving me the chance to scoot away a few paces.

"Please, I don't mean you any harm! I don't want to hurt you!" I rasped through the agony of my likely shattered bone.

"Little fucking late for that!" Snarled the dark grey mare.

Wordlessly, my horn began to glow and I cast a healing spell over her damaged limb, healing it near instantly, much to her stunned delight. A peace offering, hopefully easing any hard feelings.

"Holy shit! Could use one of you back at the homestead." She gave me a cocky smirk that I decided immediately I didn't like. My suspicions were confirmed when seconds later she hit me in the back of the head with her revolver and I fell into unconsciousness.

I awoke to the feeling of both my head and my broken leg pounding in rhythmic sync. I lifted my head only to bang my horn hard against something metal. I looked around and found myself inside a small metal box, fitted with small holes for air. I was likely inside of the rudimentary shack I had seen earlier. I took account of my injured leg. Casting healing spells to set the bone or trying to mend the fractured pieces without seeing what I was doing could damage my leg further. With a few concentrated teleports, I could manage to get outside and hopefully find irradiated water. One good thing about being a Ghoul in the Equestrian Wasteland was the ample amounts of radiation dispersed across the land were like the greatest healing potion to me.

As I was contemplating my escape, the earth pony mare whom had captured me opened a door towards the west corner of the room and walked out with my saddlebag in her mouth. Sitting down in front of my prison, she sat my bags in front of her.

"Why were you sneaking around here, Ghoulie? Tryin' to find some fresh pony to eat?" She stared at me with something akin to morbid curiosity. "Normally I'd have splattered your brains across the dirt but you're more intelligent then most Leatherheads."

I regarded her with a cool stare. "I am a teacher. I was head Professor of Princess Luna's Academy for Gifted Unicorns."

She threw her head back with a rather loud cackle. "You really think I'm that stupid? No zombie lasts THAT long without going feral, if they don't fall apart first."

"If you would stop insulting my unfortunate skin condition, I would tell you how such a thing came to pass." I gave her a warning look. Beautiful or not, she was starting to get on my last nerve.

"I was in the school when the megaspell detonated. One of the most noxious poisons I have ever encountered exploded two doors down from my classroom. Instead of slowly melting me into the floor, the blast mutated me into this cursed creature. I assure you I'm completely sentient." I used my best teacher voice, wishing I had my chipped glasses to levitate onto my face to look over disdainfully.

The blue mare looked terribly confused. "I'm going to pretend I understood that and not shoot you because you heal things."

I raised a brow. "What exactly makes you think I would help you after rendered me unconscious and then imprisoned me? And now I find that the only reason you kept me alive was to use me for my magical abilities. "

The mare smirked. "Because you're too weak to run with that broken leg. And Ghoulies thrive on radiation, but there's not a single spot of radiation for a half mile in any direction. At your current power level, there is no way you could possibly get far. You're on the edge of burnout as it is."

I stared at her for a long time. "For an earth pony, you know an exceptional amount about unicorns."

She parted her hair with her hooves, revealing half a horn that was cracked all the way to the base and blackened completely as if burned. "I was once a the best damn scavenger in a 100 mile radius, even traded with Tenpony Tower. I relied on my horn as my tool. Made the mistake of running into some Killing Joke one day. My horn exploded and left me helpless between 4 Raiders. Managed to teleport back here but then I burnt out completely." She sighed.

"And you want me to reverse the effects with my fancy healing magic." I deadpanned.

"Something like that." She smirked.


End file.
